


Don't Ask Me to Follow Where You Lead

by scrawly_times



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dryad!Tauriel, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Kíli's so fucking straight for her guys, This is the straightest thing I've ever written help, Willow Maid Tauriel, the Greenwood is a Magic Forest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-21 23:52:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13751811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrawly_times/pseuds/scrawly_times
Summary: A young man walked through the forestWith his quiver and hunting bowHe heard a young girl singingAnd followed the sound belowThere he found the maidenWho lives in the willow





	Don't Ask Me to Follow Where You Lead

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by The Willow Maid by Erutan!
> 
> *cracks knuckles* So! Unlike many of my other random AUs I actually do plan on putting some work into this story, though it'll probably trail off soon enough if nobody's really interested

Kili was lost.

He hated to admit it, but he was. Absolutely lost. The forest had completely turned him around.

Blasted Greenwood. He knew all the stories about hunters and woodcutters who walked too far into the trees. Fairy tales about creatures and elvish tricks. While he knew the _elves_ were real, the other stories were certainly just superstitions. Certainly! There was no way walking trees and magic rivers were real. The elves were just stuck up pricks who hated anyone entering their fancy forest. So they made up all sorts of nasty stories about fairies and monsters to keep nosey dwarves and Men out.

Or at least, that was what the dwarves of Erebor believed. The Men mostly believed the stories were false, but gave caution to more normal threats like getting lost or caught under a felled tree. Now that Kili had gotten hopelessly lost five minutes walking into the forest he wasn’t so sure of either account.

He’d hunted in this area plenty of times. The elves allowed humans and dwarves to hunt on certain edges of the forest, so long as they didn’t overhunt or wander too deep in. Woodcutters had both more leeway and more rules. But seeing as the only woodcutters were Men Kili had no idea what those rules entailed exactly.

He struggled to remember those rules and fairy tales as he came across an unfamiliar brook. The water trickled and gurgled in a beautiful chime that raised the hairs on his neck.

“This isn’t right…” Kili muttered, kneeling down by the water.

He’d followed the paths he was supposed to. He _knew_ this area. He also knew how easy it was for dwarves to get lost above ground regardless of how well they knew their surroundings. He hadn’t left the hunting trails.

And yet somehow ten minutes after the canopy closed over his party Kili was nowhere he’d ever seen before. He’d been lost ever since. Completely lost, without his brother in sight, and wondering if he should ration his supplies. It had been several hours and Kili was starting to doubt he’d be able to wander his way back.

He only had a pouch of water and a few trail rations, not expecting this hunting trip to take very long. His uncle expected them back before sundown. It was starting to get dark under the trees by now. Kili could only hope Fili hadn’t gotten lost.

Kili took a small drink from his pouch, looking over the brook cutting through bushes and roots. The trickling water was soothing and he felt the tiredness of hiking through unfamiliar terrain relaxing away. A few yards away the water pooled into a dip in the earth and loam.

The water was fascinating, watching it move over pebbles and dirt. It was pure and so clear it was almost as if there was nothing at all. The only visible sign was the slight shine of faint sunlight on the top.

Kili started to wonder how it would taste. He’d never seen water so clear and beautiful before. His water pouch seemed to taste like mud compared to just the sight.

He’d bent over the brook, hand outstretched, when the faint sound of a tune caught his attention.

Kili looked up and noticed he was on a slope, the brook meandering past. The faint tune came from down the slope.

The slope that the brook was flowing _up._

Kili pulled back like he’d been bitten, flinging himself away from the water. The music had pulled him out of whatever… whatever _spell_ had nearly sucked him into drinking the water. Laying on his back, gasping and struggling to breathe, Kili stared with wide eyes but the waters didn’t move or change in any way. But some deep instinct inside told Kili that if he’d drank that water he would have never left this forest.

After a minute of gaping Kili forced himself to his feet, cursing. He’d dropped his water pouch… at some point, when had he done that? There was still some water left in it when he cautiously picked it up but not enough. Kili cursed again and straightened up.

He looked down the slope in the direction the faint sounds were still coming from. The backwards trickling water brought a shudder down Kili’s spine and he began walking in the direction of the music, pulling out his bow. After the brook… he wasn’t going to take any chances.

Kili figured, for a moment, that he probably shouldn’t follow random songs in what was apparently a magic, cursed forest. But it had saved him from drinking the water so it couldn’t be as bad, right?

“This is really stupid.” He whispered to himself, drawing an arrow and trying to move quietly. “I’m going to get killed.” He kept going anyways.

He kept a fair distance from the brook, but used the backwards flowing water to find his way down the slope. The closer he got the louder and clearer the song was.

After a few minutes he could pick out the most beautifully exquisite voice he’d heard in his _life_ singing an Elvish melody that drifted elegantly through the trees like a delicate breeze. Kili relaxed his bowstring, awed at the alluring voice. He had enough presence of mind to not put his bow away entirely as he eagerly approached.

When Kili finally stepped into a small clearing carpeted with red, perfectly shaped toadstools the singing stopped. A splendid willow tree spread out across the clearing, roots stretching into open air over the brook.

Intertwined in the willow’s branches and leaves lay truly dazzling lengths of auburn hair, coiling and swooping through the air. Sitting upon the base of the willow trunk, completely naked but for her hair curling around her, was a resplendent figure of pale skin.

Kili stared, awestruck. The slight figure stared back. Her eyes were an ethereal shade of peridot, wide and alarmed at his presence.

He waited several minutes, waiting for her to say something, then took a step out of the brush and into the clearing fully. Kili made sure to watch his step and avoid crushing the delicate fungus. When he looked up from his feet the beautiful maiden was gone.

Kili gasped and then blinked, rubbing his eyes. The white dots on the toadstools seemed to glow, brightening and swimming in his vision. When he tried to look at the weeping willow again for the maiden he _saw_ her hair for a moment, the shapes of it twisting and twining around the tree but in the form of the tree’s gnarled bark.

He shook his head to chase away the slight dizzy feeling.

“Hello?” Kili called. He took a step forwards, again looking down to avoid crushing the toadstools. “I don’t mean you any harm.” His vision was starting to swim but he put his bow away. He _had_ to speak with the gorgeous maiden. She would not speak to him if she thought he was dangerous.

“What are you doing so deep in the Greenwood, dwarf?” Her voice, a soft and melodic whisper on the breeze, drifted from the treetop. Suddenly her hair was looped around leaves again but instead of sitting upon the trunk she was perched high in the branches of the willow.

Kili’s vision stopped swimming for a moment and he took that moment to stare up at her in awe. He hadn’t even seen her appearing, it was as if one moment she _was_ the tree and the next she was sitting against it.

He finally realized she was staring at him with suspicion and waiting for a response. Kili bowed deeply, feeling his cheeks reddening.

“I’m but a hunter who has lost the trails. Kili, son of Dis, at your service, my fair Lady.” He said, trying to keep himself from stuttering like a fool.

“A hunter?” Her soft voice said with a slight edge.

“Of deer and rabbits only, my Lady,” Kili was quick to assure, still not looking up from his bow. “And only what is needed. I don’t hunt frivolously. My family does not need the meat but there are always poorer dwarves and Men in Erebor and Dale who do. Though I do use the skins to practice my trade.”

“What trade is that?” She said, edge gone. A note of curiosity colored her voice instead.

“Leather working, of which I am but a journeyman.”

There was a contemplative silence and then an unidentifiable heaviness that Kili hadn’t even realized was fogging his mind was gone. The toadstools stopped swimming around his feet and he straightened up.

“My Lady?” Kili whispered, peering through the draping leaves to find her eyes.

“I apologize.” She responded. “There are many who would harm my folk. I still am not sure you are not one of them, but you have been… kind.”

She disappeared again and now Kili had the honor of watching her melt into the bark of the willow tree. The auburn haired maiden appeared again, near the trunk of her tree, appearing out of the bark there in a reverse of her disappearance. Here she sat, comfortable against the rough bark even though her skin was naked against it.

“You took care to not crush my toadstools.” She said quietly. “You disarm yourself, you bow to me, you call me Lady.” Her lips quirked into a very slight smile and Kili felt like he could fly from the charm of that small smile alone. “My name as you may understand it, Hunter Kili, is Tauriel.”

“My Lady Tauriel.” Kili said slowly, making sure to sound it out as correctly as he could.

She noticed the reverent way he said her name, clearly, because her head tilted and a slight notch appeared between her brows. Kili took a deep breath and hoped his next words came out as suavely as he intended.

“I followed the enchanting singing in the hope that someone could direct me out of the forest, but seeing such a beautiful maiden, I find myself reluctant to leave.” Kili tried to keep his voice steady but he was sure his face had turned red and he’d stuttered a few times.

The notch in Tauriel’s forehead deepened but it mixed with a smile. Kili counted that as a win while his heart soared.

“Eloquent.” She said, eyes glittering. “I’m sure you say that to all maidens of your own race.” Her voice took a slightly pointed tone to it.

“No dwarrow has ever caught my eye the way your beauty does.” Kili said hopefully, grinning at her.

Her lips pursed and Tauriel stared at him for a long while with unidentifiable emotion.

“I would hear of the lands beyond the forest,” Tauriel eventually said. “If you would speak of them. I hear much from elves of their kingdom but little of dwarves and humans.” Kili perked up eagerly.

“It would be my pleasure, Lady Tauriel.” He looked about his feet carefully and levered himself until he could sit down without crushing a toadstool.

There the young dwarf sat, speaking freely and unbothered by the unblinking stare of the elf. He kept his comments on his own race short, explaining at her curious insistence that his kind did not share much of themselves with outsiders. Tauriel did not mind in the least and only nodded in understanding before asking more about Dale and the humans beyond her forest.

“My Lady, if it is possible, I would love to show you around the city of Dale.” He told her with a dreamy smile. “Maybe even show you some of Erebor?”

Tauriel’s curiosity and exuberance fell and Kili cursed internally, wondering what he’d said wrong.

“That would be wonderful, truly.” Tauriel whispered, looking away from him. Long strands of her hair fell into her face and hid her poignant eyes from his sight. “However I cannot leave this place.” Her head tilted up and the long branches of the willow tree wavered and trembled throughout the clearing. Kili exhaled in wonder. “I am a dryad and I cannot leave my tree, for it is part of me and I am part of it.”

“Oh.” Kili said blankly and then felt like smacking himself for the _totally_ elegant response. “I… thought you were an elf.” He said shyly, blushing in embarrassment when she turned to him with an amused smile.

“So I realize. Were I not held to this clearing, I assure you, I would take you up on your offer, Hunter.” Her smile was gentle and longing. Kili vowed that he would do his best to tell her all she wished to know of the world beyond the forest. He would find some way to tell her even the secrets of the dwarves if he could!

It was with a start that Kili realized the world was starting to gray out, the toadstools around him actually glowing with a faint light from their white spots. He’d grown so distracted talking to Tauriel that the sun had set and it was growing dark. He knew it was dangerous to be out in the forest after dark. And after the thing with the brook, and now knowing Tauriel, he was _not_ eager to find out just _how_ dangerous it was.

Just when he started to stand up in a panic the sound of someone walking came from the trees. Kili bolted to his feet and he had his bow pulled out and armed when a Man stepped out into the clearing.

“Mae govannen, Woodsman Bard.” Tauriel said calmly behind him. “Hunter Kili, if you would please watch your step..?” Her voice was slightly upset.

Kili looked down almost without meaning to, wincing when he saw he’d kicked several mushroom caps in his rush.

“I am _so_ sorry, Lady Tauriel, I-” Kili cut himself off before he babbled like an idiot and gave the human a wary glare. “Who are you?”

“I should ask you the same.” The Man deadpanned in return, looking at Tauriel with a frown.

Tauriel merely smiled at the both of them. The human turned a bit red and then turned his eyes very firmly towards Kili. The dwarf couldn’t help but snicker when he remembered how prudish Men could be about nakedness. Even elves weren’t so stuck up in that one matter!

“Kili, son of Dis. at your service.” Kili said with a nod of his head. “I was hunting on the edge of the forest when I got lost somehow and eventually found Lady Tauriel.” He gave the dryad a fond smile.

“Bard the Woodsman,” The man said, sounding vaguely pinched. “You are very lucky it was Tauriel you found. Some dryad feed on flesh and would not have hesitated to spear you where you stood.”

Kili’s eyes widened and he looked at Tauriel searching for confirmation. She nodded, unperturbed.

“Some of my kin require flesh and blood for sustenance.” Tauriel showed no sign that she was bothered by the concept. “However now that you have met and talked with me, I will ensure they know to never harm you.” Her head tilted to the side thoughtfully.

Tauriel stood up from her seat on her trunk. Kili openly watched her with reverence, aware of Bard nearby turning his head away politely.

Her hair remained curled and twisted about her tree as she walked towards him, tangled in the leaves like opulent chains that draped from her canopy. Tauriel’s slim arms lifted up in the air and her branches dipped down to her. They twisted and encircled her arms even as she bent them into a plaited pattern.

A garland of twined willow leaves was held in her arms a moment later, twigs dropping off without even a snap of resistance. Kili was worried for a moment.

“Does that not hurt?” He said in concern.

“Not at all, they were fronds like to fall off soon.” She smiled at him. “Wear this while you walk the forest and all will know you are a friend of a weeping willow. There are many other dangers that may present themselves here, but no dryad, at least, will harm you with my favor. And many others will hesitate to harm you.”

Kili was awed as she presented the garland to him. He looked up at her when she approached the edge of the clearing, placing it over his head and across his shoulders.

“I am deeply honored, my Lady.” Kili bowed, sure he was blushing again. “I hope I can make good on your word of friendship.”

“I hope so as well.” She laughed. “You had best leave. Soon it will be full night and very little would keep you safe in the darkness.”

“I will endeavor to return with more stories for you, my Lady.” Kili beamed at her, causing Tauriel to smile at him in return with a flash of her teeth. He felt like he was going to swoon at the sight.

“We had best be leaving, Master Dwarf.” Bard’s hand on his shoulder caught his attention and he reluctantly turned away. Kili watched his step very carefully to avoid stepping on toadstools and then jogged after the Man who was walking swiftly away from the dryad. “You know the way out?”

“Yes, but you will not make it tonight. It is _incredibly_ dangerous to be out in the forest after dark.” Bard looked back at him with a glare. “I will show you to my cabin. In the morning I will show you the way out of the forest.”

“You live in the forest?” Kili startled, struggling to keep up. Bard seemed content to make him hustle to stay with a human’s pace.

Bard grunted wordlessly. Kili huffed but continued following him. Not like he had any other options.

It was almost fully nighttime by the time faint lantern light shone through the trees. Bard finally slowed down and relaxed, the tension dissolving from his shoulders.

“Da!” A high pitched voice called out. Kili was surprised to see a child running out from the shadows by the cabin. “You’re back! And you have Miss Tauriel’s friend!”

The child was followed by several strands of vines and Kili gasped, looking at the human in sudden understanding. Bard didn’t turn to him. Instead he picked up the child with a fond smile, bouncing her onto his hip.

“Dad!”

Two more voices came through the night and two older children walked out of the darkness. Neither of them had vines or branches holding them, but Kili had no doubt they were also dryads from the leaves littering their clothes and hair.

“Did you three behave?” Bard said with the paternal tone that only fathers had.

“You were only gone for an hour, what could we have done?” The boy, with skin that was frighteningly pale, said as he hugged Bard around the waist.

“This is the Hunter who found Tauriel?” The tallest one, a girl, was looking at Kili with a suspicious frown.

“How do you know about me?” Kili said, unsure what else to say.

“Tauriel told us there was someone lost by her tree.” The little girl said from Bard’s arms, peeking down at Kili shyly.

“Dryads can communicate with each other through the roots of their trees and even trees that aren’t dryads.” Bard explained, setting the little girl down. “Master Dwarf, these are my children. Sigrid, Bain, and Tilda.” He held a hand towards the eldest girl, the boy, and the youngest in turn. “They are all, as I’m sure you’ve surmised, dryads.”

“And their mother?” Kili asked quietly, knowing he shouldn’t ask, but unable to stop himself.

“Chopped down in the winter by an ignorant woodcutter.” Bard’s voice dropped in a warning. Kili nodded and backed off. “We can talk inside. You three should be getting to sleep.” He gave the children a meaningful look.

With much whining, the children wandered back out into the darkness and presumably their trees. Tilda actually skipped back towards the cabin before disappearing into the side of it.

“She’s a wisteria tree, her vines are spread all over the cabin.” Bard said when he caught Kili’s wondering look.

“They’re all wonderful.” Kili said poorly, trying to find a way to voice the warmth he could feel in the way Bard and his children interacted with each other.

“They are.” Bard agreed, eyes softening. “Let’s head inside and have dinner, Master Dwarf.”

Kili nodded and followed him inside the cabin, the sounds of the forest at night chasing them inside.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact! I trolled thesaurus.com trying to keep myself from using the word "beautiful" ten million times, because Kili is a heterosexual mess


End file.
